Chapter 7: Conformity Flashcards
What is Social Influence?
Refers to ways that people are affected by real or imagined pressures of others
What is the Chameleon Effect?
When one mimics others to fit in and enables individuals to interact more smoothly with one another
What is Conformity?
The tendency to change our perceptions, opinions, or behavior in ways that are consistent with group norms
What were the findings of the Line Judgment Task?
Participants knew the answers were wrong but they went with the incorrect majority
What was the study which was conducted by Muzafer Sherif
Autokinetic Effect
In darkness, a stationary point of light appears to move, sometimes, erratically in various directions
Who studied the Line Judgment Task?
Solomon Asch
What were the findings of the Autokinetic Study?
Participants were in the dark, when individuals were uncertain of judgment, others serve as a source of information
What is Informational Influence?
It is influence that produces conformity when a person believes others are correct in judgement
What is Normative Influence?
It leads people to conform because they fear the consequences of appearing deviant
Why does being ostracized hurt?
Human beings needed each other to survive and flourish. The need is primitive and rejection inflicts social pain that feels much like physical pain
What is Public Conformity?
It refers to a more superficial change in behavior, pretending to agree when in private, they do not
Whose experimental task reflected what group primacy effect and depth of conformity?
Sherif’s Ambiguous Autokinetic Effect, Informational Influence, and Private Acceptance
Asch’s Simple Line Judgments, Normative Influence, and Public Conformity
What Situational and Personal Factors make us more or less likely to conform?
Group size, Focus on Norms, Ally in Dissent, and Gender Differences
What is Pluralistic Ignorance?
When we misperceive what is normative, particularly when others are too afraid or embarrassed to publicly present their true thoughts, feelings, and behavior.
What is the Law of Diminishing Returns in Conformity?
Beyond the presence of 3 or 4 others, the Law of Diminishing Returns applies. The amount of additional influence exerted by more individuals is negligible
How do different genders respond to conformity?
Females conformed to contrived majority more on masculine items and were better with face-to-face interaction
Males conformed more on feminine items
Why are there less differences in face-to-face encounters?
People worry about how they come across
People feel pressured to behave in an acceptable manner according to gender role constraints
People behave in gender stereotyped ways when motivated to attract someone from the opposite sex
What is the Minority Slowness Effect?
Consistently, and regardless of the topic, respondents who held minority opinions were slower to answer the questions than those in the majority
What is Minority Influence?
The process by which dissenters produce a change within a group
How do nonconformists derive power to act as agents of social change?
The style of their behavior must be forceful, persistent, and unwavering
They must also appear flexible and open minded, consistent and even-handed
When is consistency in behavioral style effective?
When it draws attention from those in the mainstream
When there are signals that the dissenter is unlikely to yield
When viewed in positive terms and it stimulates others to reexamine their own views
When it increases minority influence
Also known as the Consistent Dissent Approach
What are Idiosyncrasy Credits?
Also known as Brownie Points
They are an accumulation of goodwill within a group and leads to tolerance of a certain amount of deviance
(First Conform and then Dissent Strategy)
What is the Single Process Approach to Conformity?
It accounts for both directions of social influence and minority influence is like a chip off the old block
What is the Dual Process Approach?
majorities and minorities exert influence in very different ways and for very different reasons
How do Majorities exert influence?
Because of power and control, they elicit public conformity by bringing stressful, normative pressures to bear on the individuals
How do minorities exert influence?
They are seen as seriously committed to their views produce a deeper and more lasting form of private conformity or conversion by leading others to rethink their original position
What are the two cultural orientations towards persons?
Collectivism and Individualism
What is Individualism?
Promote virtues of independence, autonomy, and self-reliance
Group allegiances are not a priority but personal allegiances are
What is Collectivism?
It is a cultural orientation in which interdependence, cooperation, and social harmony take priority over personal goals
Individual is first and foremost a loyal member of a group
What is the origin of cultural orientations?
Complexity of a Society
Affluence of a Society
Heterogeneity of the Culture
Religious Ideologies
What is Compliance?
It is a change in behavior that is elicited by direct requests
What is Mindlessness?
Responding to words without fully processing the information theyy are supposed to convey
What is the Norm of Reciprocity?
It is a rule of social behavior that makes individuals treat others as they are treated
Who are Creditors in relation to Reciprocity?
Individuals who use reciprocity to elicit compliance by trying to keep others in their debt so they can cash in when necessary
What is Reciprocation Wariness?
It is suspicion expressed that asking for another’s help gives them power over an individual
What are Sequential Request Strategies?
Foot-In-The-Door Technique
Lowballing Technique
Door-In-The-Face Technique
That’s-Not-All Technique
How does the Foot-In-The-Door Technique work?
The influencer sets the stage for his/her real request by getting a person to comply with a smaller request first, then making a bigger request after
What is the Lowballing Tecnique?
A two-step technique based on the “start small” idea. The influencer secures agreement with a request but increases the size of the request by revealing hidden costs.
What is the Door-In-The-Face Technique?
A two-step compliance technique in which the influencer begins with an inflated request then decreases its apparent size by offering a discount or a bonus
Why is the Door-In-The-Face technique effective?
Perceptual Contrast
Reciprocal Concessions
What is Perceptual Contrast?
To the person exposed to a very large initial request, the second one will seem smaller
What are Reciprocal Concessions?
This refers to the pressure to respond to changes in a bargaining position
What is the That’s-Not-All Technique?
A two step compliance technique in which the influencer begins with an inflated request, then decreases the apparent size by offering a discount or bonus
What Sequential Request Strategies start small and end large?
Foot-In-The-Door Technique
Lowballing Technique
What Sequential Request Strategies start from large and end small?
Door-In-The-Face Technique
That’s-Not-All Technique
What do the Sequential Request Strategies have in common?
They are a manipulation of §The target person's self-image §The target person's commitment to the product §Feelings of obligation to the seller §Perception of real request
What is Obedience?
A behavior change produced by the commands of authority
What is important to an Obedient Participant?
Situational factors are more important than the participant’s personality characteristics
What factors influence obedience?
The Physical Presence of Authority
Victim’s Proximity to the Participant
Relief of Personal Responsibility
What were the roles of the participants in Stanley Milgram’s Blind Obedience Study?
Transmitter - took orders and passed them on
Executant - actually pressed the levers
What is a characteristic of Disobedience?
When not criminally but morally, religiously, or politically motivated, it is a collective act
Who proposed the Social Impact Theory?
Bibb Latane
What is the Social Impact Theory?
Social influence of any kind is a function of the others’ strength, immediacy, and number
Sometimes, resistance is not most likely to occur when social impact is divided among many strong and distant targets
What is Immediacy?
It refers to a source’s proximity in time and space to the target, the closer the source, the greater the impact
What is Strength of Source?
It is determined by the source’s status, ability, or relationship to a target, the stronger the source, the greater the influence
What is the Number of Sources and how does it relate to Influence?
As the number increases, so does their influence
Who proposed the Chameleon Effect?
Tanya Chartrand
What was Stanley Milgram’s study about?
Blind Obedience
Who proposed the Autokinetic Effect?
Muzafer Sherif
